Save the day

Author: tgkproductions

So recently I finally acquired The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I bet you expect me to be writing some review of it here.

Review: It’s really fun, but the rain mechanic is frustrating.

For as much hype as I put into it before it came out, I guess that review is anticlimactic. I honestly have a lot more to say about it, but nothing that hasn’t been already said. If you want a good review, just watch the videos I put in that other post I did about the game. In fact, I’m currently doing my first run-through of the game in Master mode. As in I decided to play the game for my very first time on the hardest difficulty setting. So I have some stories from that that I guess I can write about.

But not here. This game got me thinking about the appeal of the kind of game it is.

Collect, Craft, Survive

Normally I would classify any Zelda game as a linear adventure game. And while this game has many of the elements of traditional Zelda games, such as dungeons, special equipment, and puzzle solving, Breath of the Wildintroduces new mechanics that drastically change how the game is played. Mechanics such as weapon durability, cooking, and material collecting. These mechanics shift the play style from adventure to survival since you constantly have to be searching for new weapons and new materials to aid you on your quest. It’s still undoubtedly an adventure, but one that requires a lot more thought and planning than other Zelda titles have.

So the game has survival mechanics. Neat. But why is that neat? Why are survival mechanics found in Breath of the Wildor even Minecraft so appealing to players? I’m not talking about the mechanics in the game and how they work, but what is psychologically appealing in these games.

Choose Your Path

Every Zelda game before Breath of the Wild gave you goals to achieve. The main one is always something like “defeat Ganon” or whoever the main villain is, but in order to do that the game will give you the goals of first clearing the forest dungeon, then the fire dungeon, then the water dungeon, then the desert dungeon, and then maybe a few others, and THEN you can beat Ganon. Which is fine, so long as it’s a fun experience. There’s nothing wrong with a linear game.

Breath of the Wild does the same thing to a certain extent. At the beginning of the game you are given the main objective of defeating Ganon. Then the game gives you some quests that can help you do so, such as going to the dungeons. There’s also treasure to collect, mini dungeons called shrines to complete, and other things to find. All of which are completely unnecessary to accomplishing your main goal. Helpful, but unnecessary.

So I think the reason this game is appealing is because it gives you the opportunity to create your own goals. With so many unnecessary yet helpful things in the game, you have the freedom to go at whatever pace you want. If there’s a dungeon you don’t like, then do it later, or just skip it entirely. Or do ALL the dungeons. Or if you’re skilled enough, go straight to Ganon.

The same can apply to Minecraft. There are bosses in the game that you can prepare for such as the Ender Dragon and the Wither. But they’re completely unnecessary if you so choose. You can spend the whole time just building houses and neighborhoods if that’s what you like.

While linear games can throw you from one event to the next without much break in between, survival games like Breath of the Wild allow you to set your own goals and progress at your own pace. Now, there are survival games that are way more stressful where you have to race against the clock of hunger or a mass flooding or something. And I could compare Breath of the Wild‘s appeal to that of other types of games like shooters and fighters. And maybe I will analyze those kinds of games later. But I compared survival to linear in this post because that’s how Zelda used to be for the most part, barring maybe the first game and Link to the Past. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that the Zelda franchise took a step in the right direction with Breath of the Wild.

Description

Create a magazine cover with the featured article as a talk by a general authority and have the inside page be that article.

Process

At first I wasn’t too comfortable doing this because I knew magazine covers were very cluttered and I was not sure if I would be able to convey all the information appropriately. I decided to use Elder Holland’s talk “We Are All Enlisted,” and since it relates sports boundary lines to obeying the commandments, I decided to go to the football field to take my photos. I then edited them a little bit in Photoshop before bringing them into InDesign. I mainly added vibrance, which I didn’t expect to use that much, but it really brought out the colors of the turf. Once I picked my pictures and colors the article titles sort of fell into place. I picked a stencil text on the inside article to match the football field look. I also felt I needed a quote over the middle picture so I did that in stencil as well and text wrapped the words around it.

Critique Process

My work was reviewed by Victoria Bulson, Kate Boswell, and Alan Lauese. The text “Stay within the lines” used to be directly on the white line, which added a nice touch, but they suggested I raise it above the line, so I did. The blue color I had printed darker than I liked, so I lightened it a bit. They also suggested that my article text was too big, so I made it smaller, and it really helped it look like a magazine.

Message

We must stay within the lines of the commandments in order to compete in life.

Colors

Pictures Used

The Indie Fighter

Don’t let the pixel graphics fool you. Rivals of Aether is a Super Smash Brothers inspired fighting game created by Dan Fornace that was fully released Tuesday.

To call it a clone or a knock off of the still popular Super Smash Brothers: Melee would not do it justice in the least. Yes, it is a fighting game where damage is taken in the form of percents. Yes, the objective of each fight is to knock the other player off the screen. Yes, it has many technical similarities to SSBM such as wavedashing and teching. But it’s creativity, balance, and innovation sets it apart from being merely a “knock off.”

Most games that try to be like SSBM aim for their game to be a fighting game with mascots. Much like how SSMB features characters from various Nintendo games like Mario, Link, Fox, and Samus, Playstation tried to do the same thing with their game All-Stars Battle Royale, which featured characters from various Playstation games.

Fornace, of course, doesn’t have 20 or more years of unique games under his belt. So Rivals of Aether features original animal characters. While the characters do have backstories and the game features a story mode, the game is focused more on the technicality of the game rather than watching Mario fight Sonic, which is not the essence of Super Smash Brothers, but it is what other industries see and have tried to replicate.

“We have seen some Smash-style games in the past,” said Fornace in an interview with Kotaku, “but often, they are looking to replicate the ‘mascot brawler’ aspect of Smash and not the ‘platform fighter’ aspect that we see at tournaments.”

Rivals of Aether appears to be more of a game of skill than a game for a party. This is probably because it borrows some of the technical moves and techniques from SSBM and combines them with original movesets and characters. Some of the characters do have moves that are similar to those from SSBM, for example the fire lion Zetterburn has a special move that looks identical to Fox’s from SSBM, but the rest of him is so unique that you can’t say, “he’s just like Fox,” or “he’s just a Fox clone.”

To say that the game is perfectly balanced would be a lie. Nothing’s perfect. But it does really well.

When I was playing the game with my friend, I was pretty upset with two of the characters he would play: the ice summoning bear Etalus and the rock summoning beetle Kragg. Both had what I called “stupid combos,” meaning he could do a simple move three times in a row and then do a stronger move to defeat me early.

I wasn’t liking the game too much because of that. But then I realized that every character had a “stupid combo.” Some were just not as obvious as others. So then it became a game of who could pull off their combos first and who could read their opponent better to pull off more.

There are ways to avoid those combos, but I soon learned that I am simply not that great at the game.

Nevertheless, it is one of my favorite indie games next to Shovel Knight and Undertale and definitely one of my favorite Smash games next to Project M.

Description

Create a brochure that promotes your company.

Process

This project was pretty difficult for me. I ended up making all of the graphics and the logo in Illustrator, and the text in InDesign. It was a bit of a hassle going between the two, but it was a lot easier for me to do the graphics in Illustrator. I created 2 landscape 12×6 documents in illustrator. I used a color for the background and ground that wouldn’t clash with the colors of my logo. I put my logo in the center top and built around it. I used the gold and purple colors in my block and flag design for repetition. Then I incorporated a bunch of pictures from my web design project. I built the little guy myself with basic geometric figures. Then I brought the files into InDesign and added text, using the columns as a guide. I planned to do a four-fold, if that’s what you would call it. The ends fold in like double doors. Unfortunately, I didn’t measure it correctly and had to make some adjustments after I printed it. I ended up having to print it four times.

Critique Process

My critique opened up a lot of possibilities of things I could change, but not a lot of changes I could make before the deadline time. I changed my text to match what was in the logo both with fonts and color. I wanted to add a neat pix-elated text but if I didn’t change the logo it would go over the three font limit and it didn’t look good in the logo. I added some different more colorful pictures because the food I picked had boring colors. I also added a little sandwich graphic over my logo to emphasize the fact that this company sells food. I also made the text run across the two “doors,” which I felt was a risky idea, but I was convinced to do it.

Message

Eating these snacks can help you be healthier, here are some things we sell.

Audience

People who play video games, male and female ages 18-30

Top Thing Learned

Make sure you measure your folds correctly or else you will waste money.

It would not be appropriate to say that people are going “wild” over The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

That isn’t to say people aren’t enjoying the game. “Wild” just isn’t the best way to describe the impact the game is having on the people who have played it. If you still wanted to describe it using a word from the game title, it would be better to say that it is taking people’s breath away. With all the attention the game has been getting, it would seem that it is one of the best games of all time, much less one of the best console release games that Nintendo has ever put out with the birth of the new system. In fact, the reviews for the Zelda game are better than the reviews for the system it is introducing: the Nintendo Switch.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an immersive, open-world adventure game. It was released with the Nintendo Switch on March 3. The move to an open-world game is a new take for the Zelda series, and many were skeptical at first that this new way of play would detract from what Zelda fans love about the previous games. Most fans were not disappointed, however, as the larger world only added to the qualities of previous Zelda games. Other new game elements are weapon durability, cooking, and a lack of hand-holding, all of which have been accepted warmly by most players. It is reportedly a hard game to put down.

An article form the Time magazine said, “Exploring its expansive collage of verdant, gelid and sun-scorched zones is akin to tromping onto the set of a painterly Studio Ghibli film. It’s like nothing else Nintendo has made, an experience so simultaneously prodigious and accomplished that it feels like a mind-blowing mic drop to the sort of “open world” games (Grand Theft Auto V, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, The Witcher 3) the industry seems bent on proliferating.”

Despite all of its praise, Breath of the Wild is not a perfect game, nor is it liked by everyone. Some players have found the constant weapon breaking to be tedious and others have found the map too expansive and forgettable. One common complaint that all players have made is about the constant drops in frame rate. This happens when there are many animations going on at once in the area your character is in, animations such as fields of grass and trees swaying in the wind. However, these drops are most common in the beginning area of the game, and players have found that there are drastically less past that part, so it is a small issue.

Though it is a testament that a new Switch almost can’t handle its first major game, which isn’t a good sign. For the most part, Switch owners like their new consoles. The materials it is made of are sturdy, the controllers aren’t as awkward as people thought they would be, and it has a fair battery life. All these elements make the portability of the console practical and convenient.

There are several inconveniences as well. Though the dock is neatly designed, it is nothing special, and can possibly scratch the screen if the user isn’t careful with putting it in or pulling it out. The Switch also performs noticeably worse when it is played on the television, in reference to the previously mentioned frame rate problem. The Switch screen has a kickstand so it can be propped up while played on a table or other flat surface. However, the charging port is on the bottom of the device to accommodate the dock, making it impossible to charge while the kickstand is set up.

Many Switch owners have experienced problems that have not been problems for others. For example, many players have experienced connection issues when they detach the controllers from the screen and then something like someone walking by comes in between them and interferes with the communication. Others have tried to re-create this issue but have not been successful in re-creating the problem. Some have had problems with inputs from the left thumb stick, but again, others have only heard of this problem.

The Zelda-Switch relationship was appropriately described by YouTuber Chad “Chadtronic” Bergström:

“I feel like the full potential for this game was only held back by the system it has to run on. I would have really liked to see this game, and play this game, on a system that is not the Nintendo Switch.”

According to the reviews, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will take your breath away, but you may have to hold it for the Switch.

Description

Create a mockup website page for your company you created in the last project.

Process

I originally created three hand drawn drafts and settled on the last one I made. From that draft I created a wireframe, and used that wireframe to craft my webpage. I decided to use repetition by using the same arrows that were in my letterhead on the website, and made it the header and footer. I incorporated my sub logo by not only including it above the header but by shaping the images in the same dimensions as the logo, and giving them the golden box. I made sure all the images were evenly spaced apart along with all the other elements. I used the same fonts I used in the business card and letterhead.

Critique Process

I was critiqued by Levi Cooley, Sidney Rodrigues, and Aubrey Norris. They all really liked my design and only had a few suggestions. Levi suggested that the pictures and the text underneath be spaced out more. I used to have small prices underneath the food names and they were pretty close to the other pictures. He recommended I take those out, so I did. They also recommended I include social media links, so I did in the header. I wanted to add a lighter purple background in at least the portion above the header, but they recommended I keep it white, so it stayed the way it was.

Message

Eating these snacks can help you be healthier.

Audience

People who play video games, male and female ages 18-30

Top Thing Learned

You don’t have to snap every element to the lines of the grid guide; you just have to use it as a reference for spacing and aligning.

For some people who play video games, knowing the quality of the programming and graphics that have gone into the dragon they’re about to fight is just as important as fighting the dragon itself, but when those details are unclear, it turns the dragon into an elephant in the room instead.

In Fall of 2017, a Bethesda game will be on the Nintendo console for the first time. This is a big step for Nintendo, especially since Skyrim is still a popular game today, and might attract attention from consumers who don’t normally buy Nintendo products. However, when Bethesda’s Todd Howard was asked which version of the game would be on the Switch, Howard said he “can’t say,” according to a Polygon article. Knowing the version of the game will give consumers an idea of what level of quality to expect from it, but will also help them estimate the potential of the Nintendo Switch’s capabilities.

There are three possibilities for Skyrim on the Switch: it could be a port of the original 2011 version, a port of the 2016 special edition, or an entirely new custom-built version.

If you are unfamiliar with the term “port,” it refers to when developers go to an already created game and copy and paste it so it can be playable on a different system.

When Bethesda created the 2016 version, they made major improvements to things such as the graphics and shortening the load times. If the 2011 version is ported, it could imply that the Switch isn’t capable of managing high definition graphics. If the 2016 version is ported, it would imply the opposite. From images of the Switch’s release game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it would seem that the Switch does have those capabilities, but there is a chance that it does not.

Perhaps Howard is refraining from confirming the version because Bethesda is not sure which will be best for the Switch. Or the reason could be simpler than that.

Joe Skrebels of IGN wrote, “It may … simply be a case of [pre-release] planning – Bethesda may want to announce the Special Edition for Switch on its own terms, leading Howard to answer in noncommittal fashion.”

Whatever the reason may be, if Howard “can’t say” which version it will be, then the players simply “can’t say” how enjoyable that dragon battle will be.

Description

Create three logos for a company/service and pick one of them to reflect in a letterhead and a business card.

Process

Originally the name of the company was HP UP, which is a reference to gamers, since that was the target audience. The arrows imply an increase in health, and so did HP, which is short for health points. I also had a logo that was mainly type and used two different shades of green, When it was critiqued by the class, the name and the monochrome color scheme. So I lengthened the name to Health Points and picked a different type logo I made that used more contrasting colors, purple and gold. I gave the H at the end of Health and arrow to match the meaning I was going for. I changed the business cards and letterhead to match my new logo choice.

Message

Eating these snacks can help you be healthier.

Audience

People who play video games, male and female ages 18-30

Top Thing Learned

Make sure the identity of the company is reflected in the logo and use contrasting colors.

I play more than just Fire Emblem, I swear. In fact, I swear I play more than just Nintendo games. I promise I will get to those non-Nintendo games I like…later.

I know in my last post I was pretty optimistic about these mobile games that Nintendo has put out. I downloaded Fire Emblem: Heroes the day it came out and it went beyond my expectations, but not necessarily above.

MINI FIRE EMBLEM

Fire Emblem: Heroes is exactly what I expected it to be in the last post: a miniature, watered down version of the series. I immediately forgave the game for having smaller maps, lacking character conversations and support, weapon durability, and permanent character deaths. There is only so much content you can afford to create in a free-to-play game.

But I was surprised at how much there is to do in Fire Emblem: Heroes. It has a main story that you can play multiple times on harder difficulties, it has an arena where you can pit your characters against another, it has a training area, special missions, and something else that I haven’t even unlocked yet. The game also features character art in different styles and voice actors for each character and just enough dialogue for me to be interested in and appreciate every single one. I spent many more hours at once on this game than I ever anticipated.

MINI TIME CONSUMER

But that’s the thing that really bothered me with the game. I didn’t plan on spending as much time as I have on it, nor did I really want to going into it. I figured this would be a game where I could it pick up and be satisfied with only ten minutes of play, but it never happened that way. Kellie Plagge of Gamespot felt the same way; “Before I’d put together a strong team, I started to lose interest in playing; but once I pulled good characters, I had a hard time putting my phone down. It’s very tempting to keep playing thanks to Heroes’ quick grind-reward loop…”

The short story: I put the game down because it was taking up too much of my time, and I was neglecting other things I wanted to do because of it. Which is true for a lot of things in my life, to be honest. But the real reason I put it down goes deeper than that and has to do with how I play games.

MINI GOALS

Before I start playing a game, I usually go in with a certain goal in mind for that period of play. These goals can be as simple as “today I’m just going to beat the next level or two” to as complicated as “today I’m going to EV train my Jolteon until it’s maxed out on it’s speed and special attack stats!”

So I tried going into Fire Emblem: Heroes with similar goals, but even the simple goals take a lot longer to accomplish than in games I’m used to. Unless I paid money. Paying money makes things happen very quickly.

In my last post I talked about how Pokemon Duel was a waiting game, where certain things will unlock only after a certain time period, and Fire Emblem: Heroes is almost the same way. In order to summon heroes for your army, you need at least five Orbs to summon one, and twenty to summon five at once. Two Orbs are given to you each day, but they can also be obtained by playing levels or by accomplishing certain objectives. To play levels, you need to spend stamina points, which you regain over time, but if you run out, there’s not much you can do.

So you can’t have a goal of getting five new heroes when you have no Orbs, because it would take a long time. So I found myself making smaller goals, but spending just as long trying to accomplish them as I would with larger goals in other games. Basically this game takes twice as long to get s much progressive fulfillment as I would in another game with more content such as Fire Emblem: Awakening. And I haven’t even gotten into the amount of work it takes to level up characters and to get ones that already know certain abilities. This game has a lot of content, if I didn’t mention that before.

MINI LESSON IN MOBILE GAMING

I’ve learned from this that Nintendo’s mobile games have enough content in them for you to dedicate as much time to it as their other console games. Which is pretty impressive. So maybe I’ll actually do that when I’m done with the other games that I’m playing right now, because I do enjoy the game. But since I didn’t expect that, and I don’t want to commit that much time to it, it’s on the back burner for me. And maybe having it there will give me the opportunity to decide whether I really want to play it.

It is a good game if you want to play it, and it’s free if you want to spend the time on it. Just remember that what Nintendo has done is made it a real game, not just an app. So if you have the time, I highly recommend it.

Description

Process

Because of the quote I used, I wanted to have two contrasting images to reflect the meaning of the quote. I decided to use clouds on a bright day vs clouds on a dark night.

I merged the day and night pictures using various masks and layers.

I wrote and aligned the text

I made the text two different colors

I lowered the opacity of the text and added a bevel

I painted a low opacity black space beneath the text

Critique Process

I met with Victoria Bulson and Vincent Pelina for my critique in person. They both recommended that the text needed to stand out more. I ended up changing the color of some of the text and adding the black behind it. At first I had the type pretty transparent, but Victoria suggested that I raise the opacity. Doing so made the text easier to read since some of the shapes were clashing with the background.